As per the agreement between the two companies, the first contract will be a 32 troy ounce (1 kilo) gold futures contract offering physical delivery in Hong Kong.

Both partners note that additional futures and options contracts in precious metals, industrial metals, energy and agricultural commodities will be listed once trading begins.

High reliability

The carrier neutrality and resulting network density of Equinix data centres enables HKMEx to provide low latency connectivity options to its market participants. Platform Equinix will also allow HKMEx to easily expand its operations by leveraging its highly secure, reliable and scalable data centre infrastructure around the globe.

"We have built an electronic trading system and technology infrastructure that are among the most advanced of any exchange in the Asia-Pacific region," said Lieven Van den Brande, chief operating officer for operations and technology at HKMEx. "Equinix is one of the key contributors to our technology advantage as we bring commodities trading to a key Asian financial centre that serves as the gateway to one of the fastest-growing and commodities-hungry nations in the world - China. Equinix will assist HKMEx to reach its high reliability goals."

HKMEx's technology is designed to offer maximum flexibility and speed to meet the requirements of the most demanding market participants. Financial market participants who wish to optimise the speed of their transactions can do so through direct access to HKMEx within the Equinix HK1 facility, a facility also used by a comprehensive ecosystem of financial firms worldwide.

"With our proven operational track record and financial industry expertise, we are home to a well-established community of financial firms in our Hong Kong data centre," said David Wilkinson, senior director of business development at Equinix. "The addition of HKMEx to Platform Equinix is significant, as it expands the community of partners and end-users, attracting new participants to the electronic trading ecosystem."